PUEBLO, CO — A vigil was held on the night of August 22 outside Davis Mortuary in Pueblo, Colorado, where grieving families gathered not only to mourn their loved ones, but to seek answers. What was once a place of peace has become the center of controversy, leaving a community in shock and in pain.
Jennifer Valdez lost her mother in April 2025. For generations, her family had entrusted Davis Mortuary with their loved ones’ final arrangements. She remembered the day she picked up her mother’s ashes vividly. The staff sat with her family for 45 minutes, grieving alongside them, acting like family.
“They sat at the table and grieved with us as if they were one of our family,” said Valdez. “They talked to us like if that was my brother, my tío, my tía. They had the compassion, the emotion. And it was all clown, like it was all makeup.”
Her heartbreak turned to horror after her father stumbled upon a Facebook post, prompting a wave of disbelief.
“The box we’d been kissing, praying to, hugging, and loving, might not be my mom,” she said. “It might be a complete stranger. It might be multiple strangers.”
Valdez said she immediately contacted the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, desperate to find out if there was any way to verify the ashes.
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“That was her only wish, come home after death,” she said. “Be by the TV. Be with her family. That’s what she wanted. And now I don’t know if we completed that.”
Amanda Belcher knows that feeling well. She believed her mother had been respectfully cremated at Davis Mortuary in March 2024. Now, like many others, she’s living with doubt.
“My mom was supposed to be cremated here,” Belcher said. “And I'm kind of concerned on whether or not I actually have my mom's ashes, or something else.”
Belcher had no reason to question anything at the time. Everything went smoothly.
“The staff were kind. Professional. Everything was done like we asked. We got everything in a timely fashion,” she said. “There were no red flags. They made it feel right.”
But that sense of peace collapsed when she learned about the investigation. The news has left her spiraling.
“Now I question if I’ve been holding onto my mom… or someone else entirely,” said Belcher. “You think you’ve moved on. You think you’ve healed. And suddenly you’re back at square one, asking yourself the unthinkable.”
Sandi Grossnickel is also reliving unimaginable grief. At the vigil, she held her daughter’s urn in her hands. But now, she isn’t sure who, or what, is inside.
“This is my daughter,” said Grossnickel.
Her husband, Jeff Grossnickel, stood beside her, describing the heartbreak of having to reopen a wound they thought had closed.
“It was tragic watching her pass a year and a half ago, and to see my wife have to go through this again, it’s just not good,” said Jeff Grossnickel.
The vigil was a family-led effort, organized by Valdez’s aunt, Matrina. It included Indigenous drum groups who came to pray, not just for the victims’ families, but for the Pueblo community as a whole.
“This vigil was about more than just mourning,” Valdez said. “It was about unity. About healing together.”
She wants others to know they don’t have to grieve in isolation.
“There’s a community here that’s open to talk, pray, and grieve with you, whether your story is the same or different,” she said. “Even if it was someone else’s mistake, know that we’re here with you.”
To the community, Valdez offered strength. To the mortuary, she offered a painful truth.
“You wrecked us. Not only did we lose someone we loved, but you opened that box of tears for how long? A lifetime,” Valdez said. “You put on a good set of makeup and fake smiles, and fake sympathy. And you destroyed people.”
As candles glowed in the Pueblo night, each flame represented more than grief. It symbolized love, confusion, and a desperate need for truth.
“Right now we are all one family,” a speaker said. “One family facing this together.”
Because when trust dies, an entire community mourns.
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